Hot Package (A Hostile Operations Team Novella)(#3) (3 page)

“Billy?”

He shook himself out of his reverie and stared at her hard. “Yeah?”

She came forward with the keys in her hand. “You seemed a million miles away there,” she said softly. “Is everything okay?”

Hell no, it wasn’t okay. Olivia Reese was standing in his living room, needing his help, and all he could think about was stripping her naked and losing himself in her body again. He didn’t have time for this.

“Yeah, fine.” He held his hand out so she could drop the keys inside without any finger brushing, but of course she set them in his hand gently, her fingers touching his palm and sending a lightning bolt of sensation sizzling through him.

He jerked his hand back and closed his fingers around the keys. “It’ll take me about fifteen minutes, maybe more depending on the road.”
 

“All right, but if you aren’t back in half an hour, I’m coming after you.”

His mouth twisted as he let his gaze slide to her feet. “Barefoot?”

“If I have to.”

He recognized the stubborn tilt of her chin. “I’ll be back. Don’t run away, Olivia.”

Her cheeks flooded with color and he knew he’d scored a direct hit. It didn’t make him feel any better though. “Billy, I…”

He backed away and reached for his coat. “Forget it, sugar. I shouldn’t have said that.” He shrugged into his jacket and went over to the door. “Make yourself comfortable while I’m gone. There’s some leftovers in the fridge, a few beers. Whatever you want, take it.”

She stood there staring at him with those wounded eyes and her arms folded tight. He felt like an asshole. “Thanks,” she said.

“You bet.” He opened the door and slipped out into the frosty night. The snow was still coming down, a bit harder now, and he stood on the porch and breathed in the cold air, willing it to cool his temper and his libido both.

Since that was damn near impossible, he went and got into the Tahoe. Then he took out his phone and made a call. “Hey, Big Mac,” he said when Kevin MacDonald answered. “Got a situation.”

CHAPTER THREE

Olivia stood in the middle of Billy’s living room with her arms still wrapped around her for a long minute after the door closed behind him. It was almost like déjà vu, watching him walk out the door. She shook her head and went into the kitchen to fix more coffee. Out of curiosity, she opened the fridge. Billy wasn’t the typical bachelor in that he actually had food and not just pizza boxes. Not only that, but she knew he could cook a decent meal.

Something he’d learned from his Aunt June. Olivia sighed and pushed her hair behind her ears. She wasn’t quite as cold as she’d been before, but she sure would love some pants—or at least another pair of tights—to keep her legs warm. And dammit, how was she going anywhere with no shoes? The pair she’d lost in the snow weren’t expensive, but they’d been broken in and comfortable.

She knew that she couldn’t fit into anything of Billy’s. But she could wear his socks at least. She went down the hall, opening doors until she came to his bedroom. Even if it weren’t the only bedroom, she’d know it was his by the duffel lying on the foot of the bed. She stared at the familiar sight and felt a pinch of something deep inside. Typically, the appearance of the duffel indicated an impending operation.

She closed her eyes, remembering how it had felt for him to kiss her goodbye and then not see him for weeks at a time. They’d only been together six months, but that six months had been punctuated by a lot of absences. She was familiar with the signs of departure.

She went into the room and opened drawers until she found his socks. Then she grabbed a pair of the thick socks he wore under his combat boots and tugged them on. They went halfway up her calf, and while she might look silly wearing them, she felt warmer already.

By the time she’d fixed the coffee, Billy was back. Snow glistened on his dark hair and eyelashes and his cheeks were red with the cold. He glanced down at her feet but didn’t say a word. He tossed her badge on the coffee table—but no shoes—and took out his cell phone.
 

“Big Mac,” he said after a moment, and she knew he was talking to Kevin MacDonald. “I’ve got the badge. Standard RFID. … Yeah, shouldn’t be too difficult to clone.” He shoved a hand through his hair and stood quietly for a long moment. “Copy. See you in the morning, then.”

He tossed the phone down and blew out a breath and she could tell that brilliant mind of his was working overtime. Warmth surged through her. He had every reason to despise her, but he wouldn’t let that stand in the way of doing a job.

She curled her legs under her and sipped her coffee. “I really appreciate your help, Billy.”

He stood there, so tall and hard and masculine. A lean military machine just waiting for the go order. It made her shiver in a new way.

“And here I thought you hated what I did.”

Heat crept into her cheeks. She’d known, hadn’t she, that when she came to him, there were still things simmering between them?

“I don’t.”

“You tried to make me choose, Olivia.”

She tilted her head back and looked up at him. “And I lost, didn’t I? You didn’t even have to think about it.”

He didn’t answer the question. “If you care about somebody, you don’t put them in that position. You don’t make them choose like that.”

Her heart beat hard. “You don’t get to say whether or not I cared about you. Only I get to say that. And I was scared of losing you.”

“You wanted to control me.”

She closed her eyes and pulled in a breath. “You won’t ever see my side of it, so why are we going there? It’s been over between us since you left for that last mission, and I know I’m to blame for it.” Her eyes snapped open again. “But so are you, Billy Blake. It takes two to have a relationship. And you weren’t ever going to give me more than a warm body in my bed for a few weeks at a time.”

“We were together for six months. How in the hell do you know what I was going to give you if we’d been together longer? I said we’d talk, but you weren’t there when I got back. You ran away, Olivia. Like a brat who didn’t get her way.”

She hated the way those words sounded on his lips, but how could she argue? She had run away. And part of her had regretted it since.

“I was leaving the Army and you knew it. What did you want me to do? Hang around and wait for you to come back every few weeks? I had resumes out, and you knew I could get picked up anywhere. But you never said a word about what came next. It was like you just thought I would be there, no matter what.”

He glared daggers at her. “You were planning to leave the Army when we met. Why would I think you might need my input on a decision you’d already made?”

She gripped the mug tight. “Well, gee, I don’t know, Billy. Maybe because I thought we had something but I wasn’t ever really sure where you stood. You never said.”

His hands clenched into fists at his side. “I kept coming back. To you, Olivia. I spent every day I had stateside with you. And that meant nothing to you.”

“It did mean something. But I wasn’t sure it meant anything to
you.
”

“Jesus.” He shook his head. “Forget it. It’s been too long and there’s no sense raking over the past. You made your choice and we’ve both moved on.”

Her eyes stung with frustrated tears. “Yes, we’ve moved on.”

He turned away from her, all stiff military precision. “Good, great, end of story.” He went over to the dining room table at one end of the long room and grabbed another computer. Then he powered it up and retrieved the disc Alan had sent her.

“What are you going to do?”

He sat on one of the chairs across from her. “Send it to HQ.”

“What about security?” She knew he was a great hacker, but there had to be others equally as good.

“This is a secure satellite link. Not a problem.” He popped the disc in and his fingers flew over some keys. Then he sat back and waited for a few moments. When he was satisfied, he ejected the disc and closed the computer. “Mendez will get some engineers on this. Anything we can learn from here might help when we break into Titan tomorrow.”

Olivia shivered. “I’m not breaking in. I work there.” It was semantics, sure, but she didn’t like to think in terms of doing anything wrong. It made it easier mentally.

“We’ll start searching for Cooper too. If he’s in St. Thomas, we’ll get him.”

“You don’t think he is?”

Billy shrugged. “Honestly? I don’t think so. But if we’re lucky, whoever’s behind the plot to sell faulty equipment to the military doesn’t know either.”

Olivia hated to think of what could happen to Alan Cooper. Or to her. “What if someone knows what he sent me?”

Billy’s eyes darkened. “No one’s getting to you.”

“But going back there tomorrow…”

He lifted an eyebrow. “Who said you were going?”

“I assumed—”

He got to his feet now. “Hell no. You’ll brief me on the layout, but you aren’t going. It’ll be me and one of the guys.”

Anger flipped to life in her belly. “I realize this is what you do, but you won’t get the information without me. Even with a fake badge and the codes, it won’t work.”

“Sweetheart, you’d be surprised about the places I get into.”

“I’m sure you could tell me but then you’d have to kill me. But I’m telling
you
, Billy Blake, that you won’t pull this off without me. Alan’s office is in a secure area, and though you can hack into it, you need me—a recognizable employee—to watch your back. There won’t be that many people working on Christmas Eve, but those that are there will know you don’t belong. If you’re with me, I can make it believable. Not only that, but if you look lost for even a second, you’re toast. So face it,
sugar
, you need me to guide you and to watch your back.”

Her pulse was pounding with adrenaline, both over standing up to Billy and over the idea she had to help him break into Alan’s office. Yeah, there was a risk that someone knew Alan had sent her a disc. But that didn’t mean they knew what was on it. Or even that it was potentially volatile. She’d been afraid to go home tonight, but she’d walk into Titan’s offices tomorrow with a trained military fighting machine at her side. That was a no brainer.

Billy’s jaw hardened. “I don’t like it, but you have a point. We’ll go in together—but only if my CO approves it.”

She tilted her chin up. “He will.”

“Don’t be smug, Livvie.”

She wanted to tell him she’d do whatever she damn well pleased. But the truth was that it was growing late and she was tired. There was no going home tonight, not with her car in a ditch and the roads snowed over.

“Look, I’ve been working long days and I’m tired. If you give me a pillow, I can sleep right here.”

“You aren’t sleeping here. You can have my bed.”

She tried not to let her throat close up at the thought of sleeping in his bed. Surrounded by sheets that smelled like him. Oh God.

“You don’t have to give up your bed for me. Besides, I fit on this couch better than you.”

“I have a sleeping bag,” he told her. “And I’m not arguing with you. Grab one of my T-shirts to sleep in. We’ll hit Wal-Mart in the morning and pick up some jeans and shoes for you.”

She got to her feet and stood there staring up at him. He was so close. For a moment she wanted to reach out and slide her fingers along his jaw. But she had no right. Not any longer.

Her gaze slid past him to the small Christmas tree sitting on a table near the window. He still hadn’t plugged it in. She knew his aunt had sent it to him years ago when he’d first joined the military. Every year, without fail, he dragged it out. Because his aunt would ask and he wouldn’t lie to her. He’d told Olivia that last year, the first and only Christmas they’d ever spent together.
 

“You’re a good guy, Billy,” she said, and meant it. And then she left him standing there and went down the hall to his room, closing the door softly behind her. She leaned her head against it and told herself it would be okay. Billy would help her out. And she wouldn’t fall in love with him ever again.

CHAPTER FOUR

When Olivia woke, it was still dark. For a moment, she forgot where she was. But then it all came rushing back, along with the knowledge she was wrapped in Billy’s sheets. She could smell him as if he were right here with her and it made her heart pinch tight with pain and regret.

She reached for her cell phone to check the time. It was three a.m. She groaned and then lay back and blinked up at the ceiling. It was Christmas Eve morning and a wave of loneliness engulfed her. She thought of her mother, no doubt drunk and in some strange man’s bed right now. When she’d been a kid, her mother had dragged her from boyfriend’s house to boyfriend’s house. Only once had Olivia had a stable home life, but that lasted for three years before her mother chased Darrel Anderson away too. He’d been the most decent man Angie Reese had ever been with, but when he’d dared to suggest she needed to stop drinking and start being more of a mother for her kid, she’d had one of her predictable meltdowns.

Darrel tried to stick it out, but eventually he’d faded away too. Olivia clutched the covers in her fists. She’d learned from an early age that men were unreliable, even though she knew that her mother was at fault too.